The Florida Panthers erupted in the third period, overcoming a two-goal deficit to post a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Jerk Store in their final game before the holiday break.
Carolina got a first period goal off the rush by Eric Robinson, from Sebastian Aho and Joel Nystrom, and a breakaway goal courtesy of Andrei Svechnikov, who emerged from the penalty box to take a lead pass from Jordan Staal and solve Sergei Bobrovsky between the wickets early in the second period to go up by just a deuce heading to the final frame.
After being limited to just eight shots on goal over the first forty minutes, the Cats went crazy ape bonkers in the third, strafing Frederik Andersen with 14 shots and beating him five times while holding the home side, wearing white on this night, to a mere three cracks at Bobrovsky.
The comeback started seconds after Andersen flat-out robbed Anton Lundell. After the rebound drifted into the slot, Sam Reinhart backhanded the puck to Eetu Luostarinen, who teed up Niko Mikkola. The towering defenseman let go of a slapper that deflected in off the skate of Alexander Nikishin to finally get the Cats on board at the 3:53 mark. It was Mikkola’s first of the 2025-26 campaign.
A brilliant step-up by Aaron Ekblad allowed the Panthers to hold the zone and tie the tilt 2:24 later. Ekblad snapped a shot on goal that Andersen denied after it first caught a piece of the screening Noah Gregor. The rebound came right to Luke Kunin, who swept it through Andersen’s five-hole from the left circle for his second of the season.
It only took another 43 seconds for Florida to forge ahead. Reinhart collected the rebound of Luostarinen’s bid from the right circle and set up Lundell for a successful snapper from the dot in the left circle while rounding the net.
Sam Bennett would stuff another lump of coal into Carolina’s stocking at 9:57. A.J. Greer drove Ekblad’s aerial dump into the Hurricanes zone and the puck took a funny hop and ended up in the slot. Bennett outworked Robinson for the loose puck and then turned and fired it by Andersen for the insurance marker.
Seth Jones would complete the scoring with a power-play goal at 15:39, easily putting his shot past a diving Andersen’s after the puck ended up on his stick following a series of passes between Reinhart and Brad Marchand.
After sleep-walking through the first two periods, the Panthers woke up after getting a stern reading from the naughty list of head coach Paul Maurice. The Cats impressively reeled off four goals in a 6:04 span to post their second comeback win over Carolina in less than a week, upping their road record to 8-7 in the process. Florida collected its 20th victory and will break for the holiday festivities on a 8-2 run that sees them holding down Wild Card 2 in the ever-changing world of the Eastern Conference playoff race until at least this weekend.
The Five Hole
- Sam Reinhart racked up three assists for the second time this season and fifth time as a Panther. Reinhart has produced six goals and nine assists in the 12 games Florida has played thus far in the month of December.
- It came late, but Brad Marchand’s secondary assist on Seth Jones’ goal extended to his point streak to six games. Marchand has amassed ten points (4G/6A) during the run, which began after he was held off the score sheet in three-straight games.
- Speaking of Jones, he leads Florida’s defense corps with six goals, 15 assists and 21 points. His five power-play goals are second-most on the team, just one behind Reinhart’s six.
- Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves, including a key second period stop on Jordan Staal, to post his 16th victory. Bobrovsky is tied with four other keepers for the most wins in the NHL this season and tied Terry Sawchuk for the eighth most wins (445) all-time.
- In addition to Reinhart, Eetu Luostarinen and Aaron Ekblad also delivered multi-point games, finishing the tilt with two assists apiece.
Stat Card
